10 November 2003 08:13
Telecom pulls PX-50 higher
The Prague Stock Exchange went through a volatile week pulled up by Czech Telecom on one hand but dragged down by
Unipetrol on the other. The blue-chip PX-50 index rose 0.91 percent over the week to close at 642.5. Dealing opened
sprightly last Monday, contributing to a 1.29 percent climb during the day. "Optimism reigned on the share markets
at the beginning of the new month. Markets were boosted by economic revival on both sides of the Atlantic," said
Dan Karpisek of Komercni Banka. The easing of worries about the Russian oil giant Yukos scandal also helped spark
buying. Expectations that the Telsource consortium could gain a good price for its 27 percent stake in Telecom were
fueled by news from Poland. The Polish government announced Thursday that it sold a 7.5 percent stake in the Polish
incumbent TPSA for Pln 13.5 per share (Kc 93.7) or around $350 million (Kc 9.7 billion) in total to institutional
investors in Poland and abroad. The Polish government said in September it planned to sell 14.5 percent of TPSA in two
separate offerings. TelSource has commissioned Morgan Stanley and CSFB to sell its minority shareholding in Telecom. The
companies were earlier recruited to organize the sale of KPN's stake in Telecom. "It can be assumed that the
sale of TelSource's stake will be organized in a manner similar to the deals for KPN's share in Telecom and
the Polish state's stake in TPSA," a report by brokerage Atlantik Financni Trhy stated. Because the value of
TelSource's stake is substantially bigger than the Polish state's stake in TPSA, Atlantik said it expected a
discount against the market price of Telecom shares of 6-10 percent. This would give a price range per share of Kc
254-266 per share. Media speculation surfaced last week that the state will probably buy TelSource's stake. State
holding company, The National Property Fund, which has a 51 percent stake in of Telecom, announced later in the week
that it did not intend to buy the stake from TelSource. Telecom closed 3.46 percent higher on the week at Kc 287.10.
Erste Bank dropped 1.88 percent on Thursday, mostly under the influence of selling on the Vienna bourse, where it is
also listed. Dealers attributed the decrease to profit-taking after the shares rose to record values. "Erste
weakened after its shares hit all-time highs," Komercni's Karpisek said. The share rebounded Friday to Kc
3,078, a 0.72 percent gain on the week. Unipetrol fell by 3.47 percent over the week to Kc 60.69 on lower than expected
third quarter results and worries about its ongoing privatization. — Igor Muller with CTK IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Unipetrol
The National Property Fund (FNM) invited expressions of preliminary interest in the 63 percent state-held share in the
chemicals and refinery group last Thursday. A minimum price has not been fixed for offers but the FNM conditions allow
consortia to bid. Preliminary bids should be submitted before Christmas. The winner should be selected by the end of
March. Unipetrol also announced a pre-tax profit of Kc 9.6 million over the first nine months of the year compared with
a Kc 92.8 million loss in the same period a year earlier. The market had expected a higher profit. Closing price 60.69
Market cap, thousands 11,061,435 P/E ratio 17.43 Price change (week) -3.47% Price change (3 months) 3.92% Tip of the
week: Buy Ceske Radiokomunikace Radiokom shares corrected last week on purely technical grounds and started to recover
when many buyers became interested in the share. Short-term expectations for the share are neutral but there is
long-term growth potential because Radiokom's shares are greatly undervalued. —Jan Pavlik, Wood & Company
[CEIW] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
